by Eric Prisbell, USA TODAY Sports

by Eric Prisbell, USA TODAY Sports

FORT WORTH, Texas --- Bill Self paced and cringed, shook his hands and head and eventually just placed his fingers over his eyes. Like most Kansas fans, Self could barely bring himself to watch his Jayhawks author their worst offensive half of his 10-year tenure.

After losing at home to Oklahoma State on Saturday, Kansas' first loss since Nov. 13, the Jayhawks figured to blitz Big 12 bottom feeder TCU on Wednesday night. But in a season defined by historically low scoring nationwide, the fifth-ranked Jayhawks turned in an unsightly offensive performance in a 62-55 loss against a team that was winless in Big 12 play. And a sea of delirious fans flooded the court after one of the most improbable results of the season.

Kansas (19-3, 7-2 Big 12) scored six points in the game's first 16 minutes en route to a 13-point first half at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum, where many purple-clad Horned Frogs fans appeared as much in disbelief as the Kansas players. The 13 points was the lowest total in a half at Kansas since the school began keeping such records in the 1988-89 season.

The Jayhawks, who entered the game leading the league in field goal percentage (47.8 percent), made 3 of 22 field-goal attempts in the first half. Redshirt freshman Ben McLemore, the Big 12's second-leading scorer, missed all six of his field-goal attempts in the half.

After facing a 16-point deficit with 11 minutes to play in the game, order was restored, at least momentarily. The more athletic Jayhawks pressed and turned the game into a scramble, engineering a frenetic rally to cut the deficit to single digits. But their fortunes faded amid a flurry of errant shots. And the zaniness in this unique season continued.

As teams continue to play musical chairs atop the polls, this result will resonate as a jaw-dropper throughout the season. If there had been any doubt about how wildly unpredictable this March figures to be, fans can look no further than Wednesday's game here. Under first-year coach Trent Johnson, TCU (10-12, 1-8) was ranked 161st in the RPI and had not won a game since beating Mississippi Valley State on Dec. 30. In its first season in the Big 12, TCU figured no match for a Kansas team that has won eight straight Big 12 regular season titles.

And Kansas did not just lose. It looked lost offensively at times. If this cringe-worthy performance is possible, what won't be possible when better teams than TCU play some of the nation's blue-bloods in next month's NCAA tournament? No great team exists in college basketball this season, and even alleged very good teams can be susceptible to ghastly efforts, as Kansas demonstrated.

Throughout the game, Kansas' looked listless and out of sync. The Jayhawks at one point were tripping over one another and struggled to get back down court on defense. Few players showed any glimpse of emotion, even as the scoreboard inexplicably showed an inept offensive performance neither fans, nor Self, will soon forget.